Cambodia

We had a great time on our overnight train from Chiang Mai. We spent a good deal of time in the dining cart, drinking Leos and enjoying the scenery outside. We both slept peacefully until about 5:30am, when a nice Thai man peeked into our curtains and said, “Bangkok?” We were due to get in at 5:30am, but the train wasn’t moving, so we were a bit confused. Again he asked, “Bangkok?”, and when we confirmed that was our destination, he said that if we hurried we could make the “other train” because “the machine” is broken. Between the language barrier, no contacts in and all the Leos the night before, I was not comprehending. We were on the “express train”, so we shouldn’t have had to switch trains. I kept trying to understand what “machine” he was talking about. As far as I knew, I didn’t need any machines for anything. And then it hit me. “Wait, is the TRAIN broken?” Yup. So, we hurried out of the train and stood between two train tracks in the middle of rural Thailand, waiting for another train to come and, hopefully, stop at this spot that was not a station, just grass.

It did stop, and we were back on track to Bangkok, but not on an “express” train. Not at all. Nothing “express” about it. It stopped about every five minutes or so to let at least 10-40 people on at a time. No air conditioning. It was rough. We finally got to Bangkok at about 8:00am, found our driver at KFC, and were on our way to Cambodia. Fortunately, our “VIP” bus had waited the hour and a half for us to get in. Only it wasn’t a pink VIP bus like we are used to. It was a minivan, albeit a nice one, stuffed to capacity. Thanks AGAIN, Tony!

We arrived in Siem Reap later that day. Fortunately the long, straight road from Poi Pet to Siem Reap has been paved in the past seven years. Apparently when Matt was here in 2002, it was a dirt road. Mind you, this trip was about four hours on a paved road. I cannot imagine on a dirt road…in the rain, like Matt was…taking ten hours…and having to switch buses at least once because it got stuck in the mud. So, really, I should not be complaining about our “VIP” minivan at all.

I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting from Cambodia, but I absolutely loved it! It’s very different from Thailand. And there seems to be a clear divide between the Thais and those born in Cambodia. When Matt asked the man who took us across the border if he was Thai, he responded, “Have you ever heard a Thai speak English like this?” Uh, ok. Apparently, about 90% of Cambodians speak English, and it is taught in all the elementary schools. Our guide told us that Thais don’t care about English, that they just want to have their own language, but that Cambodians require that children learn it because tourism is so vital to their revenue stream.

Siem Reap is a really cute city. You still have your standards…tuk tuks flying around, street vendors peddling all types of everything, but it is so much more chill than Bangkok and even Chiang Mai. And, so much cleaner. I felt at ease in Siem Reap really quickly. We checked into our guest house and met the cutest little girl. She is the same age as our niece, Riley, and reminded us of her. Mostly because she wouldn’t look directly at Matt, only out of the corner of her eye. Until he started doing “knuckles” with her, and making weird faces at her. She warmed up and he even taught her how to do the “explosion”. By the time we finally checked out, he had won her over.

We spent some time exploring Siem Reap, and had a few Angkors, a local beer, obviously. Everything…the water, the beer, the bars, all are named for Angkor Wat, as it’s clearly the main revenue source and attraction here. We hung out on Pub Street for a while, where we realized another difference from Thailand…the music! Mostly Western popular music, but sung by the actual artists!

Our three-year anniversary fell on Tuesday, and we had a perfect day. We went to Angkor for the sunrise. Even though it was cloudy, it was awesome to sit in front of the reflection pool at the entrance to Angkor Wat in complete darkness, and then have a magnificent temple in front of you when it is finally light out. Our stomachs were a bit shaky from all the beers the night before so we actually opted for some “Ecstatic Pizza” for breakfast. It was delicious. Not exactly New York style, and it definitely had its own special Cambodian ingredients mixed in, but the cheese and sauce were pretty damn close. We were impressed and it hit the spot.

With full bellies, we were ready to explore the temples with the tuk tuk driver we hired for the day. I feel like I could go on and on for pages and pages about the beauty of the temples at Angkor. But, if I were to do that, it still wouldn’t do it any justice. In fact, I’m petrified that the nearly 1,000 pictures we took (I am not kidding) won’t do it any justice, either. So, I guess I will sum it up with one word…spectacular. I am a nature lover; I appreciate history; I’ve seen beautiful things that are man-made and natural. I have never seen anything like these temples in my life. Literally breathtaking. At the second temple we visited, Matt actually asked me if I was ok because I could barely speak. I whole-heartedly encourage everyone I know to visit here. It is more than worth the flight to Asia, and even the shoddy bus trip out.

After a very full day of enjoying Angkor’s beauty, we stopped at our guest house to change, and headed out for a traditional Khmer dinner. We had no idea what Khmer cuisine entailed, so we decided to be adventurous. We were mostly impressed. For an appetizer, we had the Fried Crispy Potato Wontons. Yes, they are as amazing as they sound. They are mashed potatoes, curry and chilies deep-fried into a wonton shell and served with a “tomato sauce”. The closest thing I can compare the sauce to is salsa. It looked like it came out of a Pace jar, but had a thicker consistency and wasn’t so tart. Tasted closer to actual tomato sauce, but it definitely wasn’t a marinara or anything. For dinner, Matt chose Amok, which is a type of curry, and absolutely loved it. I opted for the Mango Salad. I saw Andrew Zimmern try this on “Bizarre Foods”, so I knew it wouldn’t be strictly fruit. It’s actually mangoes, chilies and vegetables, with some type of sauce I couldn’t identify. I ordered it spicy, and had to take a sip of beer in between every bite! I wouldn’t say I would order it again, but it was definitely good.

After dinner, we went back to Pub Street to have a few drinks. We sat at a table on the sidewalk that, luckily, was covered, as the lightning and torrential downpours from typhoon Ketsana set in soon after. As we sat there, we did some great people-watching. My favorite was a boy about seven years old, doing Michael Jackson moves in the street. Completely adorable.

We managed to get a covered tuk tuk to take us back to our guest house since it was pouring. We solicited the one with the largest umbrella and tried to communicate that he was a smart businessman since his umbrella was about double the size of the other drivers’, but I think he was more concerned with the $2 we were paying him to take us there.

The rain kept Matt up most of the night. It was non-stop and completely torrential all night. We were a bit worried that the storm would affect our bus back to Bangkok. We would have loved to stay in Siem Reap longer, but couldn’t risk missing our flight to Egypt. Fortunately, the bus came to get us and once we walked through the river (that used to be the street) our guest house was on, we hopped on the bus and headed back.

I wish we had more time in Cambodia, but we leave Asia Thursday for Africa. Time is really flying!